Got some goodies Powder Coated :)

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I finally found a place here that does it and well I don't know if I should tell you the color that I got everything since it isn't done yet. I should have them in like 5-10 days. I got my new valve cover coated, my customized weber 32/36 downdraft carb intake manifold, my new lx-i thermostat housing (so I can add a temp gauge easily)


Oh and I will have my tach w/shift light, my vacuum gauge (just vac. no boost on it), my temp gauge, and my volt gauge all installed once I get them in the mail.

I also bought those procarparts bumper lenses just for sh*ts and giggles. I will have my dual Ram Air intake setup installed shortly. And be working on a top secret accord project soon. I will post pics when I get the parts back :cool2:

And as soon as I get my dad's brakes done at school I will do the battery relocation kit and then install the headlight relay kits at the same time. And shortly after that I will have the first ever Carb Dual intake for the accord. I bought matching intakes (from 2 different types of cars though). The CAI's are both metallic red (sparkly) :bong: The cai's are from a 92 Integra RS and the other is from a 98 Civic EX. I will be able to customize these with no problems. And I bought the civic CAI b/c my friend convienently has a 98 civic ex and has part of the same cai that I have so I will give him the part he doesn't have so he will have a CAI too. The pipe that he has matches mine too (the previous owner bought it off of ebay too and I bet it was from the same seller b/c the paint is exactly the same)

And this wouldn't be possible without my dual intake weber 32/36 carb adapter. :bow: weber :bow:

[k-roy]

Thats a kickass idea you have goin on, keep us posted.

[SteveDX89]

So you're gonna have a dual weber setup? That will kick ass and will probably haul that sore bottom when it's finished. I wanna see pics when it's done.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

No a dual ram air intake setup on the weber that I have already. I hope it will haul some more ass. I know it will roar like there's no tomorrow so that's cool.

[lightbulblxi]

cant wait to see pics

[Bryan]

Yeah get those pics. up as soon as possible. Sounds like a sweet idea.

[SteveDX89]

Dual ram air is still sweet. You gotta love jamming cold air into the engine.

[bobafett]

hey can u tell me why its easier to add temp gauge with lxi thermostat housing? i need to get one and get it installed! ;)

i obviously have the lxi housing already... just didnt know it was real easy to hook up this way

[Robs89LXi]

Cool! What did it cost you for the valve cover, and how much prep did you have to do to it?

[RobT5580]

For prep work it has to be bare metal best is sand blasted with aluminum oxide.

[Mike89Accordcom]

I have a close friend who owns a shop that does that. So one day when I need it, it will be nice to hit him up. Can't go wrong with powdercoating.

[RobT5580]

Yeah its a very durable coating when done correct. Im happy with all my work so far and im glad i bought the equipment cause its paid for itself a few times over in just the work i did on the B20A so far.

[Robs89LXi]

Okay, so how much am I looking at?

[Justin86]

It can be pretty spendy depending on what is being done. Pics Mike? :D

[BITESIZE]

How exactly is Powdercoating done?

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I don't have the stuff back yet they will call me when its done. I will for sure put pics up. What I did I stripped everything down to bare metal (using the parts washer at school and some paint stripper). And then I did a lot of calling to find a place and when I thought there was no hope, some small assed company said, "we can do that for you." And they said they will do more powder coating for car parts if I want. For everything that I powdercoated it was $75 (that's their minimum price.) I wish I had other parts that were availible to get them done b/c he would have just done some more with that batch for the same price.


-Mike

[RobT5580]

Powdercoating uses a special gun with compressed air and plugged into 110V. Basically the powder is sprayed and clings to the part from a negative charge. Then you have to bake the part and it clears over and is hard and cured. Its not really expensive to do but you need at minimum a compressor, the hot coat system (the cheapest powdercoating system i know of), and a oven to bake it in. But they do make nice booths you spray in to collect the powder since it does waste a lot of powder. Oh and the parts have to be stripped so a sand blasting cabinet is ideal. But the powder is not real expensive but its the prep work that is where you spend most of your time.

Cost wise its cheap if you were to look at it by how much powder is used but if you look at time and supplies it can be expensive so thats why shops charge so much. Plus they usually have walk in ovens and the collector booths which is a lot of money but easily payed back over time. And the real guns start at around $800 for a decent one but IMO the $120 gun works great if you do a decent job but then again i dont do it commercially either.

[BITESIZE]

So, if I bought a pacesetter header, would the people that are going to powder coat it, most likely strip the paint off...or would I need to do the stripping?

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well they will charge you an ass load for doing it. I suggest doing it yourself. B/c I was going to have them strip my dual intake adapter and they wanted $25 to just strip that. And I was like no I will just paint it a ncie color instead.

[BITESIZE]

Is it possible to have a header powder coated? Will the powder coat withstand being how hot the header gets with normal driving conditions?

[SteveDX89]

Hey Rob, you should make a little business out of powdercoating. You've got the basic stuff to do it and you do a good job. You could make a good bit of money doing it.

[RobT5580]

Im not sure on the header they do make high temp stuff but i want to say it was either 400F or 500F i used it on my exhaust but it came out crappy cause the powder was old i got it from my friend. But most places would probably do a thermal coating like i did on my turbo manifold and downpipe. I think that stuff was rated for 1800F or so but he guaranteed it for life not to dis-color or flake so i will hold him to that.

Steve I would if i had the time but most of the time im either super busy or bored but iv been working on my engine during my winter break. It was nice not working for the first time other than when i was laid off. But i had a lot of free time because my business is slow during the holidays so i didnt even put any time into it cause the stuff would sell for dirt cheap. My friend was doing it and most people want rims done and its not worth the time to sand blast and thats the part i hate. If i had a commercial compressor i would consider it cause my time would be cut in half as far as blasting goes. So far all the part iv done came out great except my A20A3 valve cover cause the gap by the timing cover was so deep and i felt bad selling it for $50 and was going to redo it but stripping it would have been a nightmare. We will see how it goes i would consider it if i had time.

[Justin86]

yea you can pretty much powder coat everything except your exhaust. And the nice think about powder coating engine parts is that if you hit them the paint will still not chip. :)

[Mike's89AccordLX]

And you can wipe them clean with just a towel too.

[RobT5580]

Not a good thing but i dropped my white one from about 4 feet up and it fell right on the painted face and all it did was scuff the corner a little bit. It was a good thing i had the timing cover nuts on it though cause they took most of the fall. I was going to redo it but its fine so im not going to bother unless i notice it when its in the car.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I got the stuff back today and holy crap they're awesome!!! The guy told me that if I ever want cast alluminum or anything cast that it will be double the price b/c it took twice the powder to get it good. But he charged me the minimum like we discussed before. I won't tell you the color yet b/c I'm going to take pics tomorrow at school.

[RobT5580]

I think the aluminum is BS cause the powder costs a little more than a basic powder but it doesnt take more powder to cover a part. I do like the aluminum color my friend did his intake manifold that way but the only extra cost was in the powder itself and its not even double the regular powders. Just thought id share cause that is not true what he told u so hopefully your not getting ripped off.